


Bloom

by IntoTheStardust



Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series)
Genre: First Kiss, Love Confessions, M/M, Nature Magic, Shyan Mini Bang 2019, Shyan Writing Events, Supernatural Ryan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-14
Updated: 2019-04-14
Packaged: 2020-01-13 08:40:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18465421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IntoTheStardust/pseuds/IntoTheStardust
Summary: Ryan decides that it's time to let Shane in on his secret, but he could never have predicted how that would turn out...





	Bloom

**Author's Note:**

> Hiya everyone! This is my first ever fanfic for the BFU/Shyan fandom, and it's for a writing challenge! (I guess I needed the extra incentive lmao).  
> Anyhow, I love these ghoul bois, and I hope you enjoy the story! 
> 
> Also, this is somehow my longest one-chapter story, so that's pretty cool!
> 
> This, like most of my other stories, was not beta-read, so all mistakes are my own. Please let me know if you find any! :)

_Flowers_

_Grow_

_Wherever_

_His_

_Fingertips_

_Graze_

_Me_

_-My Sun & Rain_

_(Amanda Lovelace)_

Ryan took a deep breath that afternoon. By all standards it was a very normal afternoon, but there was an indeterminate _something_ in the air. Maybe it was the way the light fell just right through the window and across his pillowcase, illuminating dancing columns of glittering dust along its path. Perhaps it was the first traces of Summer that floated in on a gentle burst of air that ruffled the curtains ever so slightly, a nip of cold still barely detectable along its very edges. Or, Ryan mused, maybe today was just _the day_ , for no reason other than itself.

He checked his phone, his heart stuttering at the three simple words on the screen that he’d already looked at countless times since they’d first popped up an hour previously:

_See you there!_

They were followed immediately by a thumbs up emoji, which, in all its simplicity, did nothing to curb the ever-growing rise of nervous excitement building behind Ryan’s ribcage. 

With one last glance in the mirror and a few swift movements of his hand to fix his hair, Ryan was ready to leave his apartment and head out to meet his fate, whatever that may be. Slinging his backpack over his shoulder he left the room, making sure to lock the door behind him. After short deliberation he decided to hire an Uber instead of driving his own car, figuring that if something were to go wrong (which he doubted, he was feeling quite positive about what the outcome of today would be), he wouldn’t have to worry about trying to make his way home on his own.

The ride from his apartment to the beach seemed to take longer than usual, even though traffic was scarce by LA standards. Ryan spent the whole time staring out his window, arranging and rearranging words in his mind as he decided what, exactly, he was going to say. Whether he would say anything at all, actually, or if instead he would just _show_ Shane. He didn’t notice that he had begun to tap steadily on his phone until the driver shot him a look that was laced with equal parts annoyance and sympathy.

For the remainder of the drive Ryan focused on just trying not to overthink everything like he had a tendency to do. Instead, he let the sun wash over him, a warm, constant presence. He couldn’t have picked a better day to do this if he’d tried. The sky was blue, the colour broken only by a few small, puffy white clouds. The grass and other greenery were rich in colour from the rain they’d gotten the previous week, and birds were flying overhead in abundance. It was enough to ease his mind, almost as if the universe itself was telling him that everything would be fine.

As long as the first part of the trip had felt, so short was the last stretch. Within no time the driver was pulling up in the parking lot, and Ryan thanked him before hopping out, making sure to grab his backpack on the way. A quick scan of the area showed that Shane wasn’t there yet, but then again Ryan was a few minutes early. He walked over to where a fence made of weathered wooden beams separated the gravel of the parking area from the soft sand of the beach. He sat down on the fence with his bag at his feet, watching a few seagulls meandering near the water. The wind was strong, as it always was by the beach, and already Ryan’s hair was out of place from where he’d fixed it earlier, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. The lull of the waves crashing against the shore and the familiar salty smell of seawater had always had a calming effect on Ryan. He closed his eyes, a faint smile making its way onto his face as he let himself get lost in the moment.

“Hey,” a voice said right next to Ryan, startling him and almost making him fall from the fence.

“Jesus Christ, Shane!” Ryan chastised, clutching at his chest as his heart hammered while Shane laughed at him. “Warn a guy, would you?”

Shane threw his hands up defensively, “All I did was say hi, it’s not my fault you jump at your own shadow,”

Ryan sighed, “Yeah, okay. Fair enough. So, uh… how are you?”

“I’m good, good. Yeah, really good,” Shane answered, turning his head to gaze out at the ocean. “It’s a real nice day out. Kinda surprised you wanted to do something outdoorsy for once, but hey, I’m not gonna complain,”

“I like doing outdoorsy stuff,” Ryan argued, hopping off of the fence and picking up his backpack. “I’ve just never done anything of the sort with you because I don’t wanna have to keep up with those abnormally long legs of yours,”

“Well,” Shane grinned, “you’re in for it today, then.” Then softer, “But, uh, thanks. For inviting me. We really should spend more time together outside of work.”

“Yeah, definitely,” Ryan agreed, ignoring the excited stutter of his heart at Shane’s words. He was struck for what must have been the millionth time with how beautiful Shane was, especially now with the sun catching in his hair and throwing a golden light across his features.

“So,” Shane cleared his throat, and Ryan tore his gaze away as he realized he’d been staring, an embarrassed blush creeping unbidden onto his cheeks. Hopefully Shane wouldn’t read into it, he already had a confusing enough matter to talk about today and he sure didn’t need Shane figuring out Ryan’s feelings towards him on top of that. “You said you wanted to go on a walk here somewhere? Anything specific, or…?”

“Actually, uh, yeah. There’s a spot that I wanted to show you. I don’t know if you’d have been there already or—”

“Nah,” Shane interrupted, “I don’t really come down here that often, and when I do I just stay in the main part over here,” he motioned out to the stretch of sand visible from where they were standing.

Ryan nodded, “Awesome, then I get to be the one to show you,”

“Oh,” Shane chuckled, “You’ve shown me a lot of things already,”

Ryan tilted his head, “What?”

Shane waved him off with a smile, “Nothing, don’t worry,”

“Okay then,” Ryan squinted at him suspiciously, “Well, the path starts just over here. We should get going before we run out of time,”

“Is it that far?” Shane asked, following Ryan as he began to walk away.

“Not really, it’s just, I, uh...I want to do something when we get there,” Ryan replied. He was relieved when Shane didn’t ask what that something was.

The trail was a relatively easy one that stayed level for the most part, making it easy to hold a conversation. They talked about the projects they were working on at work, and of how Curly had discovered a new way to wear items of clothing that definitely shouldn’t go together but somehow did. Shane joked about the ghosts of people who died out at sea, and Ryan shook his head with exasperated fondness. As they walked, they ventured further from the beach, the terrain beside the trail becoming more rocky, and filled with an enormous quantity of huge boulders and tall trees. About an hour had passed when they reached an oddly red coloured boulder beside the path, and Ryan stopped. To their right was a narrow opening between a boulder and the face of a small cliff.

Ryan pointed at the gap, “We’re going through here now,”

Shane raised his eyebrows, “Are you sure you know where you’re going?”

“Sure I do!” Ryan assured, “I’ve been here dozens of times.” Shane still didn’t look convinced, eyeing the opening skeptically. “Come on, man. Don’t you trust me?”

“Of course,” Shane said, “But I’m also thinking that if you wanted to murder me, that would be a great place to do it,”

Ryan rolled his eyes, stepping off of the trail, “Come on dude, we’re almost there.” He stepped through the opening, taking his bag off of his back and holding it out in front of him in order to fit through more easily. Once he had reached the other side he poked his head back out to grin at Shane. “Plus,” he said, “if I’d wanted to murder you I could’ve done that ages ago,”

“Pfft,” Shane scoffed, stepping forward to follow Ryan through the crevice, “You couldn’t take me down,”

“Mm, that’s what I want you to think, big guy,”

“You’re incorrigible,” Shane huffed as he squeezed through the rocks, but a smile removed any bite that the words may have had.    

“Big word from an even bigger man,” Ryan poked, making his way along the rocky ground once Shane had reached his side of the gap.

“Yeah,” Shane laughed. “Yeah,” he said again to himself fondly, and quiet enough that Ryan didn’t hear him. If Ryan had turned around at that moment he would have seen Shane gazing after him with an expression that could only be described as, well, _soft_. After a few seconds Shane hurried after Ryan until he was walking beside him again, offering a smile as Ryan grinned up at him. 

“We’re not far now,” Ryan said. “You hear that?”

Shane’s brow furrowed as he focused on the sounds around them, trying to pick one out from the rest. “Is there...a stream? I hear a little trickley-trickle somewhere around here.”

“Wow, you actually got something right for once, congratulations!” Ryan clapped Shane on the back as he mocked him, dodging easily out of the way of the retaliatory push that Shane aimed at him. “If you look down at the rocks we’re walking over—”

“They’re wet!” Shane exclaimed with no small amount of surprise, honestly not having noticed until that very moment, which sent Ryan cackling.

“Yeah. Yeah, they’re wet,” Ryan wheezed. “There’s a small spring nearby that flows down into the sea. We’re walking on an area where some of the run-off manages to get to, so...”

“So wet rocks,” Shane finished for him, looking down at said rocks with an amused, fascinated smile. It suited him rather well.

“Exactly,” Ryan smiled. “Come on, it’s just over this way.”

They walked for another ten minutes, the ground beneath their feet gradually becoming more water-logged until all of a sudden they came across an area where multiple small rivulets of water converged to form a narrow stream that wound between the rocks and shrubbery around them. About a hundred feet from where it began, the stream seemed to end just as suddenly as it started, a thick bush folding over its surface and multiple large boulders obscuring it from view. The smell of sea salt permeated the air, indicating that they weren’t far from the sea.

Shane walked along the edge of the stream, peering down to watch as the water flowed languidly across the pebbles beneath it and was redirected by the bigger rocks in its path. His gaze slid forward as Ryan walked ahead, pausing to look back at Shane when he reached the place where the boulders cut off the stream.

“Ready to have your mind blown?” Ryan grinned once Shane caught up to him.

“I—” Shane began skeptically, but then he shrugged. “You know what? Sure. Go ahead,”

In response, Ryan bent over, quickly untying his sneakers. He took off his socks as well, stuffing them inside of the shoes.

“You might want to do this, too,” Ryan said, “Don’t want your shoes to get all wet and gross.”

“Why would my—” Shane began, stopping with a quiet ‘ _oh_ ’ when Ryan reached forward and grabbed onto one of the branches on the bush beside them, pulling it back to reveal a small opening between the two boulders, close to the ground. Shane was unsure whether the ‘oh’ had been a result of his surprise or in reaction to seeing the strain of Ryan’s shirt against his biceps as he levered the branch away from the gap. Either way, Ryan looked particularly pleased with himself by Shane’s response.

“You want me to go through there, I take it?” Shane arched an eyebrow.

“Yup!” Ryan chirped.

“One narrow entryway a day isn’t enough for you?”

“I mean, you made it through the other one just fine, didn’t you?,” Ryan pointed out.

Shane cocked his head concedingly. After a few moments of standing back and staring at the gap he glanced over at Ryan, who was watching him expectantly. With an exaggerated sigh, Shane crouched down and began to undo his shoelaces.

“This better be worth it,” Shane warned as he copied Ryan by stuffing his socks inside of his shoes.

“Oh, it will be. Trust me,” Ryan promised. He moved to stand in the stream just in front of the gap, taking his backpack off again as he did so, just as he had with the previous crevice. “It’s, uh, kind of dark in there for a couple seconds, but if you keep a hand on the wall you’ll be fine.”

“ _Or_ ,” Shane suggested, “I can just grab onto _you_ , because I sure as _hell_ am not going in there first.”

“Never said you were, big guy,” Ryan said. “Wouldn’t want you getting scared, after all.”

“Hey!” Shane chided as Ryan laughed at him, “I won’t be the one who’s scared when the ghost of Captain McGee comes clawing his way out of the dirt because we disturbed the peace and quiet of his little cave, here,”

“I wouldn’t say it’s a cave, more of a—”

“Ryan, I would love nothing more than to discuss the technicalities of what is or isn’t a cave with you, but I don’t think that’s why you brought me out here today,” Shane stopped him, knowing that if he let him continue they would just talk in tangents for the rest of the day.

Ryan nodded, “You’re right, you’re right. I’m getting off track. But it is important to know what the difference is between a cave and this,” he motioned to the gap, “so I’m taking a raincheck on that conversation.”

“Fine by me!” Shane agreed with a short laugh. “Shall we get going into the not-cave, then, Mr. Bergara?”

Ryan grinned, “Let’s go!”

He stepped into the running stream and crouched down, keeping his head low to avoid hitting it on the rather rugged rock above him. After a few steps he glanced back, making sure that Shane was following him. When he saw that he was, Ryan continued, shifting his backpack and shoes into one arm and using the other to lightly skim his fingers along the rock’s surface as he got further into the tunnel-like structure and further away from sunlight.

“You doin’ okay back there, big guy?” Ryan called over his shoulder, water sloshing around his ankles.

“Just peachy!” Shane returned, his voice a little strained from being crouched down and folded almost completely in half. In truth, he was already squinting from the lack of light, not to mention slightly worried that the no-doubt heavy stone above their heads would collapse on them at any second (not that he would ever admit that to Ryan, of course). The tunnel took a turn, and suddenly the small amount of light that had still filtered in to them was gone, and they were left enveloped in darkness.

Instinct reacted before Shane himself could, and he reached forward to grasp one of Ryan’s shoulders. Ryan had evidently not expected it, as he gave a shrill yelp and jumped in surprise, followed by a shout of pain as his head connected with the rock above them. Thankfully, because of his height, the impact didn’t seem to be too hard.

“Oh, sorry, man,” Shane apologized, not quite managing to hide the laughter that threatened to bubble up from his chest. He gave Ryan’s shoulder a few pats with the hand that still rested there, and he swore he could feel the eye roll that followed.

“Just let me know before you do that next time, will ya?”

“Sure,” Shane replied, “next time we’re in a dark and mysterious cave—”

“Not cave,”

“Yeah, whatever,” Shane continued, “Next time we’re in a not-cave and I have to, for whatever reason, grope your shoulder, I’ll let you know.”

It was silent for a moment save for the sounds of the stream they stood in and the splash of water as Shane shifted his foot off of a sharp stone that had begun to dig into his heel, and then Ryan began to laugh, his shoulders shaking beneath Shane’s hand.

“You’re ridiculous,” Ryan wheezed.

“And _you_ are clinically insane,” Shane shot back with a smile Ryan couldn’t see in the dark.

“Come on, let’s go, you big lump,” Ryan said, voice still filled with mirth, and continued trudging forward on their path.

Within a few steps the tunnel twisted yet again, and a bright light shone from ahead. Soon enough they could see clearly again, though Shane kept his hand on Ryan’s shoulder. The closer they got to the opening of the tunnel, the more Shane could see that the light coming from outside it was being diffused in some way. As they came within a few feet, Shane could tell that, just like the other end, this side also had a gathering of branches hanging over it.

Ryan stepped forward and took a hold of the branches.

“You ready?” he asked Shane. When Shane nodded, Ryan motioned for him to go through the opening before him, stepping to the side and pulling the branches back. Shane dropped his hand from where it had still been resting on Ryan and walked past him, very pointedly not looking at the taut muscle of Ryan’s bicep.

As soon as he stepped out into the light and his eyes had adjusted accordingly, Shane gasped. The area was so beautiful, so utterly overwhelming, so very unlike anywhere else he had ever been. Small pools of water filled the area, some filled by the stream they were still standing in, others further along by the ocean ahead of them. The incoming waves dashed against the rocks and trickled gently along the ground into the pools. Walls of rock surrounded them, the only entrance to the area being the one they had just come through. Low-growing shrubs sprouted here and there, and the stone on the ground glistened with moisture, the whole place reflecting the colours of the sky. A small beach was at the very far end, the sand soft and untouched.

Shane was so enraptured by the whole thing that he didn’t even notice when Ryan came up beside him, their arms brushing together for the barest of seconds.

“It’s great, isn’t it?” Ryan smiled peacefully, looking around the place with a lazy, familiar sort of comfort.

“Ryan, this is—” Shane said reverently.

“I know,” Ryan said, looking up at Shane, who was still surveying the area with an expression of awe. The colours around them danced in his eyes, and the water cast reflections across his skin. It was truly beautiful. “Come on,” Ryan said, tone tender. He nudged Shane’s arm gently, and started to make his way carefully along the large, smooth stones under their feet to the edge of one of the pools. Once he got there he sank down, letting his feet hang languidly and dip into the cool, refreshing water. Setting his backpack and shoes aside, Ryan patted the spot beside him, inviting, and Shane took him up on the offer, sitting down and copying Ryan’s position.

“How’s your head?” Shane asked once he had settled.

“My—? Oh!” Ryan had completely forgotten the mishap, all thought of it pushed from his mind by watching Shane get lost in the majesty of the cove, but at his reminder he reached a hand up to touch at the spot he’d bumped on the ceiling of the tunnel. It didn’t hurt at all, and his fingers came away blood-free, so he shrugged. “I’ll live. But if I die I am _so_ coming back to haunt your ass.”

“My ass did _not_ agree to be haunted,” Shane disagreed, “But I guess since I was the one who indirectly caused you to _literally_ jump in fear and hurt yourself, I suppose it’s fair.”

“So you agree that I would come back as a ghost?” Ryan pestered.

Shane turned his head to give Ryan a disapproving look. “If ghosts were real, then yes. But they’re not, so the only thing haunting me would be seeing your empty desk beside mine every day.”

“That’s...actually surprisingly touching,” Ryan said earnestly.

“Yeah, well…” Shane trailed off, a light blush colouring his cheeks as he looked away, “I’ve gotta lure you into a false sense of security somehow, Ry. Wouldn’t wanna have you figuring out all my murder plans quite so soon.”

Ryan laughed, shoving Shane’s shoulder lightly, which made Shane laugh alongside him.

“Alright, you caught me,” Shane held his hands up in surrender, “I’d miss you if you died.”

“Yeah, I’d miss you, too,” Ryan smiled.  

“Look at us, a couple of old, sentimental fools!” Shane quipped. If Ryan was a braver man he would have said that he would’ve liked if there was less _of_ , _old_ , _sentimental_ , and _fools_ in that sentence, but as it were he just nodded in agreement, looking out towards the beach in hopes that any emotion that might flit across his face would be missed by Shane.   

A seagull was lazily meandering around by the water, pecking every now and then at the air as it mistook droplets of ocean spray for insects. Ryan could stare out and watch it going about its day for hours. Or, he decided with a deep breath, he could throw aside his procrastination for just a moment and tell Shane what he had brought him out here to tell in the first place.

“Hey—”

“So—” Shane said at precisely the same time.

“Sorry,” Ryan laughed, “you go first.”

“I was just going to ask when you’re going to let me in on the mysterious little secret you’re apparently dying to tell me,” Shane said.

“I didn’t say I was _dying_ to tell you,” Ryan said, “Or even that I wanted to tell you anything, actually.”

“Yes, but you brought me out to a secluded location that’s special to you, and you’ve been very careful with your words whenever I asked what we’re doing, so,” Shane shrugged, “My detective instincts say you’ve got a secret to tell me, mister. Either that or I was right about you wanting to murder me,”

“Well, I’m not going to murder you,” Ryan said.

“So, there is a secret?” Shane asked.

Ryan nodded slowly with a sigh, “There is a secret.”

“Alright,” Shane clapped his hands together, “Lay it on me!”

“It’s not quite that simple,” Ryan frowned, thinking of how best to do what he wanted. “Hang on, I think—yeah, I think I’m going to show you.”

A slightly confused look appeared across Shane’s features, but he quickly turned it into something more neutral and motioned for Ryan to go ahead. “By all means!”

Ryan took a deep, calming breath through his nose, nodding to himself. He exhaled slowly, closing his eyes. This was the moment that everything in his life would change, no matter the outcome. Whether it would be good or bad, well… that was all in Shane’s court now. All Ryan knew was that he couldn’t continue to keep such a thing to himself, not with him and Shane growing closer by the day, and with the feelings he had developed for him over the years. Shane deserved to know.

When Ryan opened his eyes again to gaze at Shane, who was waiting patiently and hadn’t said a word as Ryan steeled himself, he felt himself relax. This was the man he had spent hours upon hours with, poring over research papers, travelling in cramped quarters, and sleeping on dusty floors. Shane knew more about Ryan than Ryan knew about himself, save for what Ryan was about to reveal. It was the logical next step.

“Okay,” Ryan said quietly, Shane’s full attention on him. “Just...watch.”

Ryan held one hand out in front of himself, palm up. Cupping his other hand, he placed it on top of the first, covering his palm. He evened out his breath, focusing on the sound of the waves gently rolling against the shore. A soft, familiar warmth tingled up his arms, emanating from his chest. He wriggled his fingers slightly, and when he pulled them away, there sat a single daisy with perfect, shining white petals. 

“Here,” Ryan said, presenting the flower to an enraptured Shane. 

“Oh, are you—have you started learning magic tricks?” Shane asked in awe, picking the daisy up to examine it. “Where’d that come from?” his eyes darted around Ryan’s form, trying to decipher the mystery. “I didn’t even see you grab anything from your sleeves or your pocket or anything! That was amazing!”

“No, no,” Ryan said quickly, barely stifling a laugh at his unexpected and, truthfully, kind of heartwarming reaction. “I haven’t—here, let me—” he carefully took one of Shane’s hands in his own, and with the other he touched Shane’s palm gently with the tip of his index finger. Again he focused on the sound of the waves, and after a few seconds had passed warmth began to blossom down into his hands once more, and then slowly, petal by petal, a small red rose appeared on Shane’s palm, spreading out around a central point under Ryan’s finger. Ryan watched Shane’s eyes grow wide as he came to the realization that Ryan was making the flower materialize right in front of his eyes.

When Ryan pulled his hand away, Shane kept his right where it was, hovering halfway between them as he stared down at the red flower. Slowly, he reached forward with his other hand and picked it up, bringing it closer to his face for inspection.

“You...made this,” Shane said. It wasn’t a question, simply a statement.

“Yup,” Ryan said plainly.

“Huh,” was Shane’s response. He twirled the rose by its stem, eyebrows raised. Ryan could almost imagine the cogs turning in his brain as he tried to make sense of it all. Ryan watched him silently, growing a little restless as the seconds ticked by and Shane made no move to say anything new. Just as he was contemplating breaking the silence himself, Shane said slowly, “My best friend has a superpower, and all it is is making flowers? Kinda lame, isn’t it?”

“Hey! It is _not_ lame,” Ryan countered. There was no force behind it, though, as he breathed out a breath he hadn’t even noticed he’d been holding. “And it’s not just flowers.”

“It’s not?” Shane asked curiously.

Ryan shook his head, “No, it’s anything organic and, I don’t know, ‘plant-like’, I guess.”

“So,” Shane said thoughtfully, “an apple?”

“You want me to make you an apple?” Ryan asked, and when Shane nodded enthusiastically he continued. “You know, I did pack us a whole meal in here,” he patted his backpack pointedly.

Shane rolled his eyes, “I didn’t say I was going to _eat_ it, I just want to see you make it,”

“Okay, fine. I’ll give you your apple,” Ryan said, trying to sound annoyed, but honestly he was so completely relieved that Shane seemed to be taking this well that he doubted he could sound anything but euphoric at the moment. He rubbed his hands together, bringing all his attention to the space between them as heat travelled along his fingers. Slowly he pulled his hands away from each other, and in the space that had once been empty a beautiful, perfectly symmetrical apple appeared.

“Here ya go,” Ryan said proudly, giving the apple a toss before passing it over to an increasingly entertained-looking Shane.

“Honestly, this isn’t at all what I was expecting when you said you wanted to talk,” Shane chuckled, a partly amused, partly nervous sound.

“Understandable, it’s not every day your friend reveals that they have crazy powers,” Ryan grinned, looking down at his own hands. “What _did_ you think I’d brought you out here to do, anyway? You must’ve had some sort of idea in that big ol’ head of yours. Apart from murder, I mean.”

“Ah,” Shane said with an awkward laugh, “Well...I was, uh...I was kind of expecting you to tell me...you know…” he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

“Expecting me to tell you what?” Ryan asked, genuinely curious.

Shane tilted his head with a pointed look in his eye, a light blush appearing on his cheeks, “You know…”

Instantly, Ryan did know, and his cheeks began to colour as well. “Oh,” he said, then found that his voice wasn’t quite working. He cleared his throat before saying, “You know about that?”

“Know about what?” Shane frowned, and just as quickly as Ryan had been sure he knew what Shane was talking about, so quickly was he completely lost.

“Wait, what’re you talking about?”

“What are _you_ talking about?” Shane shot back.

“I thought—” Ryan paused for the barest of moments, then shrugged. Why the hell not? He’d already given one huge revelation today, what was another on top of that? “I thought you meant that you’d figured out I have a thing for you, and that you thought I had been planning on telling you about it.”

The expression on Shane’s face was one of pure shock, and it was ten times stronger than any reaction he had had to Ryan procuring flowers and fruit from the very air around them.

“That’s—” Shane gaped at him, “You _like_ me?”

“If we’re going by middle-school terms then yeah, I like you, Shane. I like you a lot,” Ryan admitted. When Shane just continued to stare at him like he’d grown a second head, Ryan added, “Don’t worry about it, it doesn’t have to be a big deal. I didn’t expect you to feel the same or anything, which is why I never told—”

“I do!” Shane interjected, taking Ryan by surprise. Shane’s cheeks turned darker as he realized just what he had said, but he continued on, “I feel the same way. I have for years! I was absolutely terrible at hiding it, too. Everyone knew. I thought you’d chosen today to confront me about it, let me down easy, you know?”  

“You...what?” Now Ryan was the one staring stupidly.

Shane laughed, running a hand across his face, “My god, we’re both idiots.”

“You might be, I’m no idiot,” Ryan grumbled halfheartedly. Shane shot him a look, and Ryan rolled his eyes, “Fine, we’re both idiots.”

“What happens now?” Shane asked.

“I...don’t know,” Ryan answered truthfully, his mind still reeling from the revelation and his every bone filled with joy. “Should we—I mean, would you want to go on a date?”

Shane motioned around at their surroundings, “This kinda is a date, don’tcha think?”

Ryan held a finger up, “No, but it can be. Come on,”

Intrigued, Shane got up to follow after Ryan as he picked up his backpack and made his way along the smooth stone of the ground, down to the soft, sandy beach. Shane carefully placed the daisy and rose that he still held in one hand in one of his pockets, but he left the apple by the side of the rock pool. Once he caught up to where Ryan stood on the beach, Ryan set down his bag, unzipping it to pull out a checkered blanket, which he carefully laid down on top of the sand. He gestured for Shane to sit down on it, and Shane complied delightedly. Ryan joined him a moment later, sitting cross-legged as he continued to pull items out of his backpack. A small variety of plastic containers, paper plates, a couple of pieces of cutlery, some napkins, and two bottles of beer. He took the lids off of the containers, revealing some sandwiches, macaroni and cheese, and an assortment of chopped vegetables.

“It’s not too much, is it?” Ryan asked hesitantly after he had uncovered everything.

“Too much?” Shane scoffed, “Ryan this is...this is _perfect_.”

“Thanks,” Ryan couldn’t hide his proud smile as he replied. “I made everything for once, as well, instead of just getting take-out. I figured I’d make it special,”

“And you did it all before you even knew how I feel about you,” Shane said.

“Yeah, well. I needed something to entice you into remaining my friend if you decided that me having magical powers wasn’t something you could handle,” Ryan laughed.

“Well, let me tell you,” Shane said gleefully, “this would _absolutely_ have worked.”

They ate the food in relative quiet, stealing glances at each other every so often like a couple of teenagers. Ryan didn’t care, he was happier than he could ever remember being, the day having gone so much better than he could ever have imagined. He couldn’t help but worry, though, at the fact that Shane hadn’t said much about Ryan’s newly-revealed powers.

“So we’re just gonna slide right over the fact that I can make plants appear out of nowhere?” Ryan asked casually, taking a bite of macaroni and cheese. Or, at least, he attempted to say it casually. He was sure Shane could see right through him.

“Yeah,” Shane said simply, snapping a baby carrot in half, “I mean, it’s not like it changes anything between us. All it means is that the next time we’re on a long-ass roadtrip and you refuse to stop for snacks I can just pester you until you materialize some fruit.”

Ryan tsked, “Less than an hour into knowing I have powers and you’re already trying to extort me to use them for your own gain,”

“That’s me, Mr. Blackmail!” Shane joked. “Though I’m sure there’s other ways I could convince you into using your powers,” he waggled his eyebrows.

“That was a terrible segue,” Ryan laughed at him.

“Oh, I know,” Shane agreed, “I regretted it the moment it left my mouth.” Shane took another bite of food. “Now that I think about it, there is actually one question I have about the whole magic thing.”

“Which is?” Ryan prompted.

“How long have you been able to do it?”

Ryan shrugged, “Forever.”

“So you’re telling me,” Shane said, “that little Ryan was born and immediately started shooting flowers out of his hands?”

“What?” Ryan laughed, “Dude, no. It’s just, as long as I can remember I’ve been able to do it.”

Shane hummed thoughtfully, letting quiet settle around them for a few seconds before speaking up again, “What’s the first time you remember using your powers?”

“I don’t know, that’s like asking what’s the first time you,” Ryan jabbed his fork in Shane’s direction, “remember riding a bike?”

Shane nodded with a laugh, “Fair enough.”

“All I know,” Ryan said, “is that I was about five or six, I was alone, and the very first thing I ever made was a dandelion.”

“That must’ve been terrifying,” Shane said quietly.

“The dandelion? Totally. The most horrific of all plants,” Ryan said, turning his attention back to his food. Shane could tell there was more to the story, that Ryan was hiding behind his humour, but he sensed that Ryan would rather not speak of it. It was something for another day. In any case, Shane would hate to ruin the comfortable, warm atmosphere that had settled around them.

“Mr. Grow!” Shane wondered aloud.

“What?” Ryan frowned.

“That can be your superhero name,” Shane explained.

“Mr. Gr—” Ryan laughed, cutting off the rest of his sentence. “Shane, no.”

“Okay,” Shane smiled, glad that he’d succeeded in turning the conversation lighter again. “But until you come up with something better, that’s what you’re called. It’s the law.”

They finished the last few bites just as the sun began to descend slowly across the horizon.  Ryan tossed all the empty containers back into his bag and pulled out a new one, which contained two decently iced cupcakes. He passed one to Shane, along with another beer.

“You really pulled out all the stops, Ry. Gotta say, I’m impressed!” Shane said, biting into the cupcake and getting icing all over his mouth.

“You’re disgusting,” Ryan said.

“And yet you’re still attracted to me,” Shane pointed out. “You should really think about increasing your standards.”

“Oh, definitely. Maybe I’ll upgrade out of the bigfoot family and up to mothmen instead. Or maybe even vampires, who knows?”

“Mm, vampires _would_ be great on the nightlife scene,” Shane granted, licking the final remnants of icing from his fingers. After wiping his hands with a napkin he leaned over, popping open his and Ryan’s beers. They clinked their bottles together, leaning back languidly on the blanket as the sun continued to set.

Shane looked over at Ryan, his face bathed in shining golden light. His eyes shone brightly, and the salty ocean breeze fluttered gently through his hair. The image was so completely, undeniably beautiful, and Shane felt his heart swell with emotion.

“Hey, uh, Ryan?” Shane started tentatively. Ryan hummed in response as he turned to look at Shane. “Can I kiss you, or would that be too soon?”

“You want to kiss me?” Ryan asked, looking genuinely surprised.

“I do,” Shane said for the second time that day.

Ryan paused for a moment, then nodded eagerly, “Yeah, I’d like that.”

“Yeah?” Shane said, relief evident in his tone.

“Yeah,” Ryan grinned.

Shane leaned forward, setting his beer down in the sand so it wouldn’t spill out. He reached a hand out to cup Ryan’s cheek, a thrill of excitement coursing through him at the realization that he could do this now, he could touch Ryan tenderly, could share his space. Ryan gently touched Shane’s hand with his own, inching closer. The second before their lips touched was filled with electricity, and when they finally did meet, Shane closing the space between them, it washed out in a wave so powerful that Shane didn’t know how any kiss before could ever have seemed anything but lacking.

Ryan’s lips tasted of sea salt, and they were a little chapped from the wind, just as Shane knew his were, and yet it was the single-most perfect kiss he had ever experienced. When they pulled apart Shane saw the smile on Ryan’s face, matching his own.

“That was—” Ryan said.

“Amazing,” Shane finished for him, and Ryan’s smile grew wider. Ryan shifted from where he was sitting, scooting over until he sat right beside Shane, their thighs touching lightly as they both gazed out at the final rays of shimmering sunlight that danced across the water on the horizon. “I’m glad you brought me out here today, Ry.”

“I’m glad, too,” Ryan said softly, leaning against Shane’s side. In that moment there was nowhere else he would rather be.

***

“Ryan, just because you have the ability to magic fruit out of the air does _not_ mean that ghosts are real,” Shane argued, tripping over yet another rock that had been hidden in the darkness. They really shouldn’t have stayed out in the cove for such a long time.

“Well, if you don’t want to admit I’m right then you can make your own way back to the parking lot,” Ryan said, letting go of Shane’s hand, with which he had been leading him through the night. 

“Ryan, hey, come back!” Shane called out with a laugh.

“Not until you admit ghosts are real!” Ryan shouted back lightly from somewhere up ahead. Shane rolled his eyes, though Ryan couldn’t see him, and gave a fond sigh as he continued to trudge blindly along the path. Ryan was going to be the death of him, but hell, if he wouldn’t love every minute.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Shane fell at least another twenty more times because of his long-ass legs, but it's okay because it evened out when Ryan fell in the stream after he finally decided to hang back and help Shane out. Karma's a bitch!


End file.
